CertainTeed Corp. has updated its Shingle Applicator’s Manual (SAM) mobile app to now display residential roofing installation instructions in Spanish. The SAM app, currently available for iOS and Android mobile devices, provides contractors with the official manufacturer installation instructions and reference videos for CertainTeed’s steep-slope roofing products, as well as information about safety, roof tear-off, shingle underlayments and installing shingles on specially shaped roofs. Users can easily change the language version by swiping a button located on the app’s home screen.

CertainTeed Corporation unveils a marketing and reference tool that harnesses the power of the Apple iPad to deliver interactive content. Dubbed iDreamBook, interactive book enables contractors to help homeowners find the right combination of CertainTeed exterior products.

The CertainTeed iDreambook offers users an interactive experience. Individual chapters provide detail about the company’s complete line of siding, decorative trim, roofing, house wrap and outdoor living products (fence, decking, railing and porch). Each section incorporates videos, click-and-view images of exterior design ideas, and pop-up windows to drill down and learn more about specific products. Intuitive navigation allows the user to move from chapter to chapter.

“We wanted to enable contractors to use their MacBooks, iPads or other Apple portable devices to explore our line of exterior products with homeowners,” said Matt Gibson, marketing director for CertainTeed Siding. “The combination of video clips, photography and product detail gives our partners access to technology to showcase designs and product options available from CertainTeed.”

The Idea Gallery section will be valuable to contractors who specialize in complete exterior remodeling. This section highlights the trend toward mixing and matching various styles, colors and textures of siding and other exterior components. Each page features a gallery of photos with details on the specific style, color, etc.

The iDreambook also features information and links to CertainTeed’s interactive home remodeling visualization tools, including ColorView, ColorCoach and CurbAppeal. The company’s sustainability initiatives are also highlighted.

Dave Caldwell doesn’t have to travel into the future to see how a sustainable beach house—a complete rebuild of a home destroyed by Hurricane Sandy—in Westerly, R.I., will survive the next major storm. Half an hour northeast along the coastline, on the ocean side of Narragansett Bay, stands a testament to resiliency, another new home that Caldwell built in October 2012, just two weeks before Sandy swept in.

The Westerly, R.I., coastal home features an asphalt laminate shingle and integrated solar shingle roofing system.

Featuring the same asphalt laminate shingle and integrated solar shingle roofing system, the Narragansett Bay home weathered the worst storm to hit the Ocean State in more than half a century, emerging unscathed while 1,000 other coastal Rhode Island properties incurred a combined $35 million in damage. The home’s survival demonstrated the power of construction techniques used to protect against the forces of nature—techniques that Caldwell repeated in the re-creation of the Westerly home.

For Caldwell, the second-generation owner of North Kingstown, R.I.-based Caldwell & Johnson, a design-build firm founded in 1968, the construction industry’s response to Hurricane Sandy only validates an approach to sustainable building that emphasizes long-term value over one-time costs. He says the owners of the Westerly home, a retired couple from South Carolina, were not afraid to put a little money into making the building stout and durable after their previous home was destroyed by the storm. “The goal,” he says, “was to sit and watch the next category 5 hurricane blow through.”

HURRICANE DESTRUCTION AND ITS AFTERMATH

It’s a good thing nobody was at the Westerly home in late October 2012 when 15-foot waves carrying softball-sized stones and tons of sand crashed onto Misquamicut State Beach. The structure there at the time was a bedrock of family tradition, an annual summer destination for the owners and their children and grandchildren. But without insulation to even keep out cold air in winter, it was no match for flooding and gale-force winds. Caldwell describes the storm’s impact in neat and peaceful terms. “After the tidal surge, not much of the house was left,” he says. “Where the living room used to be, there was a 4-foot pile of sand.”

Commissioned to rebuild using the maximum footprint allowed by regulatory agencies, Caldwell designed a flood-resistant foundation using concrete footings and pilings reinforced with rebar and breakaway walls at ground level so the rest of the house will not be compromised by the next big storm. The whole house received airtight insulation, efficient heating and cooling systems, and a third-party-verified air quality measurement that combined to achieve a silver rating by the National Green Building Standard, which is maintained by the National Association of Home Builders, Washington, D.C.

Caldwell gets a lot of customer requests to add rooftop solar panels. Many times he says no because of shading impacts or suboptimal roof orientation that can limit energy production. When site conditions allow for solar, Caldwell usually brings in a subcontractor for the installation. For high-end projects with an aesthetic that requires preserving the architectural integrity of the roofline, Caldwell has his own construction crew, led by foreman Dwayne Smith, install solar shingles that integrate with traditional shingles to form a seam- less roof system. Smith went through a manufacturer’s training program to become a certified roof shingle and solar shingle installer, making Caldwell & Johnson eligible for warranty protection from the supplier and demonstrating to customers that the firm is serious about the product.

Traditional solar panels would not have been suitable for the Westerly beach home, because durability was a principal concern for the client, a retired physicist.

Traditional solar panels would not have been suitable for the Westerly beach home, because durability was a principal concern.

“Durability is a key component of sustainable green building,” Caldwell explains. “Oceanfront homes in our region are exposed to some pretty harsh elements throughout the year, including high winds, ice, salt and more. Fortunately, the individual components of the integrated solar system are up to task, and the fastening system allows the entire array to be secured directly to the roof deck as an integral unit.”

Caldwell was able to easily dispel the concern by referring to the Narragansett Bay project that survived Hurricane Sandy, where his team had installed solar shingles for the first time. “That home came through the storm with no problem at all. The solar energy system turned on and hasn’t had a problem since,” he says.

If the conditions in Rhode Island don’t provide enough assurance that solar shingles can withstand the worst that Mother Nature has to offer, Caldwell can also point to an installation he’s put on his own ski house in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, about 4,000 feet above sea level. “If you wanted to test this stuff, that’s getting on the outer edge of the bell curve,” he says. “I wouldn’t put traditional solar panels there. It would be too dangerous. But in pretty harsh conditions, the solar shingles work great.”

CertainTeed Corp. has introduced its Apollo II next generation solar roofing system featuring integrated photovoltaic (PV) panels that combine greater efficiency and improved aesthetics with easier wiring installation. Featuring 54-watt monocrystalline panels, Apollo II is lightweight, durable, resistant to wind uplift, and can easily be integrated into an existing roof or with the installation of a new roof that combines solar panels and asphalt shingles.

Like its predecessor, Apollo II fully integrates with roofing shingles for a clean, seamless appearance not found with rack-mounted systems. Each slim, 12-pound module features 14 high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells. Its low profile design does not require structural reinforcement or evaluation, and the sleek black frame, cells and backsheet visually blend with surrounding shingles. The enhanced product also features an open space under the modules to allow for easier electrical wiring. New water channels and raised fastener locations further improve roof deck integrity.

The Apollo II system is offered in pre-engineered kits containing all components necessary for installation. Modules are Class A fire rated and meet UL 790 requirements. Apollo II is also rated for wind resistance up to 110 mph and loads up to 250 lbs per square foot. In addition, the product is backed by the industry’s only warranty for both electricity output and installation workmanship. Apollo II qualifies for a 30 percent federal tax credit and may be eligible for state rebates and incentives. Additional incentives may also be available through local utility providers.

CertainTeed offers a powerful portfolio of photovoltaic roofing systems, including, Solstice rack-mounted, high-performance monocrystalline panels featuring one of the best ratios of energy per area and PowerMax premium class, copper-indium-selenium (CIS) thin film rack mounted panels for residential and commercial applications. Designed to meet the demands of sustainable construction and replacement roofing, these products leverage next generation technology to generate unrivaled performance without compromising aesthetics.

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March/April 2019

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Roofing is a national publication that unravels, investigates and analyzes how to properly design, install and maintain a roof system. Through the voices of professionals in the field, Roofing’s editorial provides a unique perspective.